This Is Broken.

This lovely picture would be the lever in the bed of my truck. Apparently, the makers of the car intended for people to be conveniently trapped inside it. What I don't understand is how someone could crawl all the way in the back and have the tailgate shut on them. Maybe they were preparing for small children. In that case, the lever is very hard to pull on and it takes some strength to push the cover off (yes, I tried).
On a more serious topic, school is, in a sense, broken. The goal of schooling is to prepare us for our future jobs and to equip us enough in life. Two things: 1) In school, they do not put us out into situations that we will have to face in the future. Most students will never face a real-life problem involving a job, decision-making. I view math necessary, but I've never been taught how to balance a checkbook, how to manage my money, or how taxes work, 2) They're not teaching students what we want to learn. Obviously the basic things are necessary: reading, writing, math, social sciences. But if a student is especially equipped for art, there are only so many art-related classes the student can take. They have to juggle their gift with other classes. Yes, we need the necessary teachings, but we also need more of what we want. There needs to be a more personalized path, rather than a general path everyone has to follow. 

Non-Assigned Blogpost.

This is not an assignment, but as this is my blog relating to my mentorship, I deem it appropriate to write about an experience I had.

This past Sunday, November 4, 2012, was my youth choir's first performance under my direction. We sang three songs and we sang beautifully. I was and still am very proud of them! It was a tremendous day and it all worked out.
Now, this story seems not so dramatic as it occurred smoothly. But what led up to our performance during the service was drastic. I am short on male voices, having only five: me, my friend, my brother, and two of his friends. My friend had a conflict and couldn't make it so that put me down to four. As with any performance, we're required to get a soundcheck. So the choir showed up at 9am on a Sunday just to run through all of our songs. Sounds easy, right? My intentions were to sing with the choir because I felt we needed the voice and I thought they were comfortable without a director. When it came down to it, they needed me standing in front of them directing rather than standing with them. So that put me at three guys: my brother and his two friends. Which isn't all that bad. My brother had one of the solos and he's been rather sick lately. He couldn't even stand up during the soundcheck and eventually, we had to take him home. Two guys. So here I am, freaking out on a Sunday morning with only two guys to perform. I knew I needed to be up there singing regardless, but the choir needed me to direct and queue them. I did the bad thing and panicked. I ended up teaching a girl the guy's solo (which wasn't necessary). My uncle (my mentor) and my mother (a musically-inclined lady) offered to direct the songs if I would teach them the queues. They obviously know how to direct, but it was the matter of giving the right direction at the right spot. I quickly ran through the songs and taught them what to do. Stress, stress, stress. Freaking out, freaking out, freaking out. They both got the hang of it. My mother directed one song, my uncle the other two. Now I'm back to three guys because I had the opportunity to sing with them and I sang my brother's solo. Service started at 10:30am. All went well. 

The End.

My Essential Question: Topic for Review.

'Which style of musical rehearsal is most effective and how can I positively create it when working with youth?' 
EDITED: How can I choose the most successful choir rehearsal method?

Q: Why did you select this as your essential question?  What excites you most about finding the answer to this essential question?  Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic?

A: I often find myself trying different types of styles to help my choir members learning faster and more efficiently. There are so many different ways to teach it almost seems impossible to try them all. With it being music, it's often hard to do hands-on activities; and that's what youth today enjoy most (including me). But it's an exciting process and it's always fun to experiment with different ways to rehearse (whether with choir, drama, or musical theater). As I strive to go into music/theater education, learning the best possible way to help today's youth learn is something that I will need and will help me in the future. With already being the director of a choir, it presents an opportunity to learn to teach before my college career.